Ice tray



May 18, 1937.

F. J. LEYNER ICE TRAY Original File d Aug. 2'7, 1932 Reissues May 18,1937 UNl'lED- STATES PATENT OFFICE ICE TRAY Frank J. Leyner, Lafayette,Cola, asslgnor to A. Yates Dowell Original No. 1,935,405, dated November14, 1933,

Serial No. 630,640, August 27, 1932. Application for reissue November13, 1935, Serial No.

This invention relates to improvements in ice trays of the type employedin connection with mechanical refrigerators for the purpose of freezingice cubes. A

Since the-adoption of mechanical refrigeration on a large scale'forhousehold use, the necessity of having some convenient way for freezingice for use in preparing ice water and for other purposes, has beenrecognizedand practically every mechanical refrigerator is' providedwith some form of tray that can be filled with water and inserted into acompartment in the freezing unit, where the water will be subjected to'such low temperature that it will congeal. Since water wets the surfaceof metal, it will naturally adhere to the metal when frozen and it istherefore very diflicult to remove the ice from the compartments ofmetal .trays. The dimculty just mentioned has been recognized and manyattempts have been made to overcome it by changing the design of thetrays or by making the trays of material whose surface'is notappreciably wetted by the water and to which,

therefore the ice does not readily adhere.

As an example of the class of trays just mentioned,'attention is calledto a type of trays made fromrubber which can be employed in amanneranalogous to the metal trays, but from which the ice cubes can beremoved by bending the tray or distorting it in such a way that thesides of the ice are loosened from the sides of the compartments.

It is the object of this invention to produce a tray'that shall beespecially well adapted for use, in freezing water to form ice cubes andwhose construction makes it possible to release the 'icecubes easily andquickly and without in-- jury to the tray.

This invention, briefly described, consists of 40 a .tray having abottom formed from a thin, r esilient, flexible sheet of metal, to onesurface of which is secured by vulcanization, a inold having a pluralityof compartments whose sides are formed from rubber and which areextensible to.

someextent. j

In normal position the'bottom of the tray is straight so as to form aplain surface, but after the ice has been formed, the tray can be bentinto such shape that the bottom is convex upwardly, thereby releasingthe ice cubes from the upper surface of the bottom and from the sides-of the mold. Having thus, briefly described the invention, the samewill now be described in detail, and for this purpose reference will behad to .the accompanylii Claims. (Cl. 62-108.5)

'ing drawing in which the preferred embodiment thereof has beenillustrated, and in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a tray made in accordance with thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line 2-4, Fig. 1, 'a portionof the tray having been removed so as to shorten the figure; and

Fig. '3 is a section taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1, and shows the bottomcurved for the purpose of releasing the ice cubes.

In the drawing reference numeral 4 designates the bottom of the traywhich is formed from a thin sheet of metal, such as steel, which isreadily bendable' and which has suflicient resiliency to return it tooriginal position when released. The ends of the bottom are providedwithhandle portions 5 for convenience in inserting and removing the trayand for handling it. Secured to the upperv surface of the bottom is amold that is formed from rubber composition. In the example shown, themold has twenty-four openings or compartments that are formed, eight inlength and three in width. The number of compartments, as well as theirsize, can be changed to suit the conditions. The mold is provided withvertical sides and partitions which have been designated by referencenumeral 6. These parti tions may be of any suitable thickness and widthand the entire mold portion is formed in one unit. The lower edges ofthe partitions and sides 6 are attached to the upper surface of thebottom 4 by being vulcanized thereto as indicated at I in Figs. 2 and 3.The method of vulcanizing rubbet to metal is well known and forms nopart of this invention. Afterthe mold has been formed and attached tothe upper surface of the bottom, the assembly has the appearanceshown'in Fig. 1

and a. section like that shown in Figs. 2 and 3'. I

When ice is-to be frozen, the several compartments are filled with waterand the tray is then introduced into an opening provided therefor in.the freezing unit of the refrigerator. After the water has frozen, thetray can be removed and." the bottom bent upwardly as shown in Fig. 3.Since the ice cubes will not bend, it is apparent that there will be aforce produced that tends to separate the bottoms of the ice cubes fromthe upper surface of the metal bottom, thereby releasing the ice. Theupward arching of the tray also tends to lengthen the sides of thecompartments and thereby producing forces that separate I am of courseaware that the trays made entirely of rubber can be bent, but with suchtrays there is practically'no force produced that tends to separate thebottoms of the ice cubes from the upper surface of the bottom of thecompartments, because the entire tray is made of flexible rubber andtherefore the flexure will take place at points between the ice cubes,whereas when a metal bottom is employed, a gradual curvature like thatshown in Fig. 3 will tend to separate the ice from the bottom. Anotheradvantage of a metal bottom over a rubber one is that it is a betterconductor of heat and cold, and therefore the heat in the water will bemore quickly abstracted than when a rubber tray is used and this resultsin a quicker freezing of the water.

Another advantage of the metal bottom is that it can have suflicientrigidity to support the tray without bending when the compartments arefilled with water and this simplifies the handling of the tray.

With a tray like that shown and described and which has a sheet metalbottom that is a very good conductor of heat, it is apparent that assoon as the tray is removed from the refrigerator into a room of normaltemperature, the heat surrounding the tray will pass through the bottomvery quickly and serve to loosen the ice from the upper surface 01' thebottom. If the ice must be removed very quickly, its removal can befacilitated by dipping the bottom of the tray into warm water, orholding it, for a few seconds, over the flame of a gas stove, or inother ways subjecting it to a high degree of heat for a short period,"as by this means the bond between the ice and the metal is entirelydissolved, thereby facilitating the release of the ice. Although theheating rectangular .in shape.

What I claim is: I

1. A tray for use in freezing water toform ice cubes of predeterminedsize and shapecomprising,a flexible metal plate forming abottorn, and

- a mold having a plurality of openings whose walls are formed fromrubber, one side of the mold being united with the metal bottom by awater tight joint.

2. A tray for.use in freezing water to ing a multiple compartment moldwhose sides and partition walls are formed from rubber and whosebottom'is formed entirely from a piece of "resilient bendable sheetmetal to onesurface of which the rubber sides are vulcanized.

3. Ice cube apparatus including a resilient body member and uprightsthereon all of resilient material, said body member having one or moreextensions for application of distorting force,

form ice cubes of predetermined size and shape, comprlspendent watertight cells.

thereafter flexed to eject closed at the bottom by said metal member andproviding compartments for matter to be refrigerated by transmission ofheat through said metal member, said metal member being manipulatable torelease the matter after refrigeration thereof.

5. Ice forming apparatus comprising distortable partition structure andan underlying metal member, said partition structure being open at thetop and beingclosed at the bottom by said metal member, said metalmember being constructed to be manipulated for facilitating. removal ofthe apparatus from a support and for distorting the partition structurefor freeing ice therefrom.

6. ,Forming apparatus for material to be refrigerated including aresilient metallic bottom member adapted to be bowed, longitudinal andtransverse wall parts mounted thereon so constructed and arranged as toallow flaring of the wall parts on bowing of the bottom member,

and outwardly extending handle means at the ends of the bottom-memberfor distorting the bottom member, said bottom member and said wall partsforming containing means for liquid to be'refrigerated.

'7. Forming apparatus for matter to be refrigerated comprising aflexible sheet of' good heat conducting properties, and wall structureon said sheet united thereto by a liquid tight joint, said wallstructure and sheet forming a liquid tight receptacle for matter to berefrigerated, the

sheet forming the bottom of the receptacle and the ,wall structureforming lateral confining means, the construction providing for theflexing of the sheet to break an ice bond between the receptacle and amember to which the same .may be frozen.

i 8. An ice tray. comprising a bottom member formed ofa strip of thinflexible materialofgood heat conducting properties, upright wallstructure attached to said bottom member and forming with said bottommember liquid containing means for matter to be refrigerated, saidbottom' moval of the'tray from its support and for freeing matter fromthe tray.

comprising a flexible metal sheet and distortable upright compartmentdefining wall structure united to the sheet in a manner to provide inde-10. An ice tray'consisting of a bottom of good heat conducting materialand wall structure on said bottom and providing therewith retainingmeansfor liquid, said tray beiniconstructed in a manner such that thebottom may be grasped and flexed to release the tray from a support andice from the tray. FRANK J. LEYNER,

